DA:TW - The Unforgiven
by Bloodsong 13T
Summary: You know all those 'Year That Never Was' Jack torture stories? Well, this is payback! Premise: The Master is resurrected between DA:TW Season 2 and Children of Earth. What if Jack and Bannon find him before the Doctor arrives? (A Dragon Age/Torchwood crossover AU.)
1. I: The Master

**Dragon Age: Torchwood **

**The Unforgiven**

* * *

CONTENT:  
Rating: Mature  
Flavor: Drama/Angst  
Era: between DA:TW season 2 and 'Children of Earth'  
SPOILERS: DA:TW season 2  
Language: bad  
Violence: yes  
Nudity: partial (m)  
Sex: referenced  
Other: includes torture (mostly off-screen), questionable morality

_Author's Notes:_

This is NOT CANON. This is an Alternate Universe story of an Alternate Universe (Dragon Age: Torchwood). If you haven't read any DA:TW, Bannon and Zevran are elves working for Torchwood. Bannon worked undercover for the Master during the Year That Never Was.

Premise: The Master is resurrected between Dragon Age: Torchwood Season 2 and Children of Earth. What if Jack and Bannon find him before the Doctor does?

Warning: the theme of this work may be considered amoral. Relationships may become irreparably damaged. Remember it is only AU.

Props to all the old-school Metallica fans! \\../,

* * *

**I: The Master**

===#===

Jack roamed the darkened halls of the lower Hub after hours. He was restless for some reason. Lucy Saxon was dead, the women's prison where she'd been held inexplicably destroyed. He saw it on the news and wondered guiltily if he should have made an effort to see her when she'd sent him messages. But what could he have possibly said to her?

His wrist strap blipped a warning, and he checked the readout. The weapons locker! He sprinted for the stairs.

He was hardly surprised to find Bannon and Zevran raiding the locker for guns. "Hold it! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Zevran looked unapologetically neutral, but Bannon was in a simmering rage. "It's him," the elf growled, not pausing in his loading of a semi-automatic. His hands were shaking. "I saw him. The-" He bit his lip, fighting the conditioning even after all this time. "Saxon!"

Jack felt a wave of fear wash over him at that name. "No. He's dead!" Very dead and very un-regenerated. He calmed himself. "You must've seen someone similar. Just an ordinary human. You can't-"

The elf whirled on him. "Every day!" he snapped, lips drawn back in a snarl. "Every fucking day! The first thing every fucking morning- 'shall I draw your bath, Master?' The last thing every fucking night- 'shall I turn down your bed, Master?' Every fucking day, all fucking day! Don't tell me I don't know his face when I see it!" Bannon trembled in barely leashed fury, and all he'd ever had to do was smile and serve the Master. Always pretending to be his loyal follower, living in perpetual fear of being found out. The Master never knew, until it was too late.

Jack, on the other hand... The Master knew him as the Doctor's companion from the start. And tried to encourage the Doctor's surrender with Jack's execution. Only to discover that didn't work as planned. Oh, but a new plan took its place: endless rounds of torture. Jack felt his body shake in reaction.

If the elf were right- and face it, this was a Time Lord they were talking about, one who'd cheated death before...

"We can't just kill him," Jack said, trying to retain a shred of control. "Not until we make absolutely sure."

"I don't think you should kill him at all," Zevran said.

Jack stared at the assassin, baffled. Sure, Zevran had not been imprisoned or enslaved by the Master during that year, but he was never one to balk at killing. For any reason.

"Zevran's right," Bannon said. His dark eyes met Jack's. "I've been in this situation before. Death is too... quick." Jack began to get an inkling of what he was talking about. Something in the dark shadows of his memory agreed wholeheartedly.

"We can capture him. Bring him here," Jack found himself saying. He closed the weapons locker- though he let the elves keep the sidearms they'd commandeered- and opened the cabinet full of stunners, tranq guns, and other capture gear.

===#===

They started out where Bannon had sighted th- Saxon. Jack checked his vortex manipulator for anomalous temporal readings, and the trail blazed like a comet. Grey early morning light seeped into the city by the time the Torchwood SUV rolled into a construction site, abandoned in the recent economic downturn.

Their target was close. Jack, Zevran, and Bannon got out of the SUV. They passed a food service truck.

"Still think it is not him?" Zevran commented low to the captain.

Jack shook his head. Whatever or whoever this was, it left smoldering human corpses behind. "Be careful," he said. "Spread out."

===#===

"I'm so _hungry_," the Master said, wolfing down the paltry food. It burned inside him like a fever, devouring him unless he devoured... His eyes alit on the two hapless homeless wanderers who sat across the fire from him.

Suddenly, they looked past him, and a shadow hovered over his seat. He looked up and blinked in utter shock. He recognized that face! And it wasn't the Doctor's! That, the lone Time Lord in the universe, he would have expected. But one insignificant little human? Here? On a planet full of them? "Y-you?"

"Hello, motherfucker," Bannon said with a feral grin. He smashed the butt of his rifle into the Master's face.

===#===

The two other blokes fled. Bannon kept hitting the Ma- _Saxon_\- in the fucking head, never mind shooting him.

The Time Lord curled up defensively and tried to crawl away. Bannon finally reversed the weapon and shot the bastard at point-blank range. The airgun barked, and the dart thumped soundly into Saxon's flesh. He collapsed in a limp heap.

Only he didn't stay still. His body twitched spasmodically. In a few moments, the tranquilizer wore off, and he scrambled to his hands and knees. His face met Zevran's boot traveling at speed, and with another crunch, he went down in the dust, blood pooling under his face.

Jack arrived a few seconds after Zevran. He shoved Saxon's body onto its back to get a look at his face. It was bloodied and broken, but there was no mistaking it, or the gut reaction of fear and hatred Jack's body had to it.

Bannon fired another dart into Saxon's chest. He collapsed back and twitched as if he were on a live wire. His flesh briefly flashed with energy, making his skeleton partially visible.

"His metabolism is going haywire," Jack said. "He's burning through the tranqs." He brought his own rifle to bear and fired. He jacked the slide and started pumping darts into Saxon's writhing body. "Get him tied up."

Zevran pulled out several restraints, and the three descended on the former Master. Not concerned with his comfort, or indeed his very survival, they managed to truss him up securely and get him in the SUV.

Down in the bowels of Torchwood Three was an unused wing of the Vault. It had once housed a cyberwoman, but no longer. However, the equipment left over was perfectly suited to both restrain and maintain a Time Lord prisoner.

===#===

Awareness returned to the Master all at once. His state was feverish, but not quite ravenous; his energy low; his body restrained. He opened his eyes and swiftly catalogued the dark stone walls, the lighted computer banks, the machinery. He didn't know what to make of it all, but no matter. He was a Master of Time and Space, after all. And his mouth was dry. Odd, that.

"Hello, Harry!" a cheerful voice sang. And out of the shadows, what to his wondering eyes did appear, but Captain Jack Harkness, smiling cheerily. The Master's hearts skipped a beat.

"I... My name is Joe," he said. "Joe Mason."

The captain's grin didn't waver, only turned more towards a sneer. He whipped out a printed medical screen that clearly showed two hearts in the Master's ribcage and shoved it at his face. "Nice try."

"Where's the Doctor?" the Master asked levelly. The 'last' Time Lord was always interfering. He had to be here somewhere, holding his precious dog's leash.

"Not a clue." Jack shrugged out of his greatcoat and moved to hang it up. As he turned back, rolling up his sleeves, those two young men came out of the shadows. That dark-haired one, that traitor! And the blond with the tattoo. They did not look as cheerful as Captain Jack. They looked quite serious.

"Wh..." The Master had to lick his dry lips. "What are you going to do to me?"

===#===

Jack had to smile. He really did. It warmed his heart to see _that bastard_ strapped helplessly in that chair. All the times that bastard had him on the floor, writhing in agony. All the times that bastard made him scream, made him cry, made him beg. All those times that bastard made him wish he could die and just stay dead, forever. All the nightmares that bastard had given him- the shakes, the flashbacks, the PTSD. The walls that had grown up between Jack and his teammates, the defenses, the screens to hide his weakness.

The elves were right. If they'd just killed him when they'd found him- shot him dead and buried the body under the construction site- nothing would have changed. He'd have returned to Torchwood, gone back to work; it would barely have been a blip in his life. But this? Oh, this was good; sinfully good. The little motherfucking bastard was going to pay for _everything_.

Jack leaned over the cyber-conversion unit. "What was it you said to me? Hmm..." He pretended to think back. "When faced with an enemy who cannot die, you just have to... experiment."

The Master's throat bobbed as he swallowed audibly. "You can't do that."

"No?" Jack's mouth twitched in amusement. "Why not? Because I'm a good guy?" He chuckled. "I have news for you, Harry. I'm only human. We're never perfectly one thing or another. We have flaws."

"Speak for yourself," Zevran said.

"Oh yes, and my friends here want to make it perfectly clear: they're not human at all. They're elves." Jack paused a moment. "They're not nice elves. They're...?" He looked to them.

"City elves," Zevran said.

"You can call us badass motherfuckers," Bannon clarified. The two grinned.

"Yeah." Jack nodded. "I've seen them in action." Bannon produced a little box of pins. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just going to poke him a little." The elf smirked. "It won't kill him, I promise."

Jack shrugged and waved for him to carry on. It wasn't as if he had a monopoly on the bastard. His lips twitched again as he watched the Master's expression of disbelief. He thought they were bluffing? Trying to scare him? Oh, he was in for a big surprise.

Bannon grasped the first finger of Saxon's right hand and jabbed the pin into it. The Time Lord shrieked in surprise and pain. He kept screaming as Bannon shoved the pin all the way in. Saxon's eyes bulged at Jack as he tried to thrash against the restraints.

Jack glanced at the elf. "Try putting it under the nail. Nail beds are very sensitive." Saxon's eyes bulged further. The elf followed Jack's advice, producing a more shrill shriek from their victim. Jack and Zevran watched impassively. Bannon continued on to each finger in turn. Tiny drops of blood flicked from the Time Lord's fingertips as his hand spasmed.

"You-you can't do-do this!" Saxon panted. "When- AIGH!- the Doctor finds out... what-what would _he_ think?"

Jack folded his arms. "Oh, I don't think he needs to know."

Saxon ground his teeth and thrashed in the restraints, but he couldn't escape the pain. "You do know," he panted between cries; "Time Lords are empathic. When under... duress... Others... they know. Me... and the Doctor... being the only two left... in the universe... He'll know. He'll come!"

Jack mulled it over. He knew Time Lords had some empathic and telepathic powers, but wasn't sure of their extent. He looked over at the two elves. Bannon paused, waiting for Jack's verdict. He looked back at the captive Time Lord. Jack looked into his eyes. He saw fear. "Bullshit."

"_No!_"

Bannon selected a hat pin last. He buried it in the webbing between Saxon's fingers.

"You...," Saxon growled, his voice hoarse from screaming, "can't keep me here."

"No, actually we can," Jack told him. "This rig? Cyberman technology. It's capable of holding an activated cyborg. That ought to do nicely for containing even a Time Lord's strength. Oh, you think someone will find you?" He gestured at the sub-basement room. "We're outside of Torchwood's surveillance system, off the main power grid. One of my employees actually managed to hide a partially-converted Cyberman here for a couple of years without me finding out about it." He shook his head.

"I'm burning up. Metabolism. Won't last long without food. Energy."

"No, the conversion unit will keep you supplied with nutrients. Just enough- we don't want you causing any power surges, now."

Saxon twisted in the infernal contraption. "I won't regenerate! You can't force me to!"

"Fair enough," Jack conceded. "This rig is designed to keep a body alive while its brain is forcibly removed, all its limbs and organs replaced by machinery. We can keep you alive through quite a lot." He bent over the Time Lord, fixing the man's gaze. "When we're done with you, we'll kill you. Just keep in mind that this time, your little 'cult of personality' won't be around to resurrect your carcass." Saxon's eyes flicked in panic. "Oh yes, I know all about your little trick, there. Lucy sent me letters from prison." If only he'd opened them before she'd died. But ironically, preventing the Master's resurrection wouldn't have been as satisfying as this, looking into his eyes as he realized you were going to stop him once and for all.

Jack felt that smile creeping across his face again. The Master just looked so stunned. His power neutered. His situation helpless. His plans foiled. His evil thwarted.

And now, payback for his past crimes was going to be a bitch.

Jack grabbed Saxon by the throat. The Time Lord choked. "Now check this out," the captain said to his partners. "Time Lords have a respiratory bypass system. If you try to choke them until they pass out and die, they won't." Saxon's eyes rolled back in his head, but Jack didn't stop squeezing.

The elves gathered closer to the head of the bio-bed. "So... what?" Zevran asked. "He's breathing out his ass?" His cohorts snorted in juvenile laughter.

Bannon said, "So if you stick his head entirely under water, but leave the rest of him out, he won't drown?"

Jack released Saxon. The Time Lord flopped limply back in the restraints. Jack lightly slapped his cheeks to bring his attention back around. "You hear that? Now there's an interesting 'experiment.' Do you remember experimenting on me, to see how long it would take me to drown?"

"Won't...," Saxon croaked. He coughed, but his voice remained gravelly after Jack's treatment of his windpipe. "Won't regenerate." He shook his head.

Jack stroked his chin in thought. He turned to the elves. "Now here's a modern invention, so you medieval-type folks probably don't have this on your world: water boarding."

Zevran knitted his brows in thought. "Is that where you ride on a board in the water?"

"No," said Jack patiently. He went to the control panel and hit the button to lower the upper part of the conversion unit into a fully horizontal position. "It's an interrogation technique of drowning someone without a lot of water. As Torchwood agents, I should teach it to you. Never know when it might come in handy. First," he said, ignoring Saxon's faint protests, "you strap the victim to a board." After the unit leveled out, Jack proceeded to tip the head end down. "It works best if you tilt them this way. Now all we need is a towel and a couple bottles of water..."

===_X_===


	2. II: The Visitor

**Dragon Age: Torchwood **

**The Unforgiven**

* * *

CONTENT:  
Rating: Mature  
Flavor: Drama/Angst  
Era: between DA:TW season 2 and 'Children of Earth'  
SPOILERS: DA:TW season 2  
Language: bad  
Violence: yes  
Nudity: none  
Sex: referenced  
Other: torture (off screen), questionable morality

* * *

**II: The Visitor**

===#===

Jack sat at his desk, poring over more requisition forms. It was ironic; he didn't have any trouble fudging the figures to cover for six agents when he only reported having four. Now that he actually had four, it wasn't so easy. He contemplated putting Rhys' name on the roster, just to pad his numbers.

"Do you want to go out Friday?" Ianto asked him when he brought in fresh coffee.

"No," Jack said without looking up. "No, I have things to do."

"All right," the staid Welshman replied. Normally, that was it. He never pushed. But this time he said, "Only, you've been rather preoccupied this past week."

"Well, we can go out next week."

"I know it's none of my business, sir," Ianto said slowly, as if dragging the words out of himself with effort. "But I can't help but be curious as to all the time you've been spending with the elves in the Hub of late."

"I've been giving them special weapons training."

The silence that met this casual remark was so profoundly shocked, Jack had to look up. Ianto's face was pale, his eyes wide. "What?"

"I-" Ianto blinked. "You mean that _literally?_"

Jack laughed. "Ianto Jones! What dirty thoughts you have about your commander!" Jack knew he'd scored, because the Welshman's ears turned scarlet. Red was so his colour! Still grinning, Jack spun a kernel of truth out into a plausible lie. "We've been working on impromptu weapons and hand-to-hand-"

His explanation was cut off by a commotion on the central floor of the Hub. An unearthly grinding, wheezing noise filled the underground headquarters. Only one thing in the universe made that sound. Jack shot to his feet. The TARDIS! The Doctor was _here!_

He ran to the door of his office. "No guns!" he shouted down at his team. "Stand down!" Bewildered, Gwen holstered her weapon. The elves sheathed their blades.

"Jack, what is it?" Ianto asked, looking out over the captain's shoulder.

"It's the Doctor."

But what was he doing here? Now, of all times! Jack's mind raced back to what the Master had said: the Doctor would come for him. Somehow, he'd home in on the other Time Lord. And if the Doctor found out what he'd been doing to his fellow Time Lord in the basement... No, no, no! The Doctor would _not_ find out. Jack swallowed his guilt. The two best conmen in the universe (Bannon being second to Jack, of course) could easily keep this secret. And their ally was the biggest bullshitter in the galaxy. Hell, Zevran could come right out and say, 'Oh, yes, we have the Master tied up in our basement so we can torture him at our leisure,' and everyone would just laugh at the absurdity.

No, the Doctor wouldn't find out. He _couldn't_ find out. The Time Lord had a big blind spot when it came to his own species. After committing genocide of their enemies, and incidentally of his own people, the Doctor could never bring himself to kill another. No matter what evil the Master perpetrated.

No, better for him never to know, for his conscience to remain clear. Jack could do this for him.

So the captain smiled and rushed downstairs.

The Doctor was already disembarked- and what was he wearing? He looked like a tourist at some cheap tropical resort! Jack's smile widened.

"Allo, allo!" the Doctor was saying. "Bannon!" He embraced the smiling elf. "Hair looks a lot better now that it's grown back out. Oh, and Zevran! How's-!?" The blond elf didn't stop at just a hug!

"Oy!" Jack called as the Doctor extracted himself from the over-exuberant elf. "If you're handing out snogs...!"

"I didn't snog him! He snogged m- umph!"

Jack wasn't letting the slick elf get all the action! He held the Doctor's face in his hands and pressed a kiss to his lips. A chaste kiss, but lingering. Slowly, Jack pulled away and looked into the Doctor's eyes. He let down his guard, let his own eyes be clear in their searching need for approval. The Doctor's deep brown eyes regarded him, looking into his soul.

Then they crinkled up in a big smile. "Oy, you!" The Doctor caught him up in a friendly hug and, laughing, Jack returned it.

"And who's this? Gwen Cooper! So thrilled to finally meet you in the flesh."

"And you, sir."

"Oh, no need to be so formal. And look here! Ianto Jones!"

"It's an honor, sir." Ianto extended a hand, and the Doctor shook it gleefully.

"They 'sir' so much," he remarked at Jack. "What a regimental lot you have!"

"Behave, or I'll make them salute you."

"No!"

Bannon said, "Oh please! We never do what he says."

"Hey!"

Gwen got caught up in the teasing. "Come on, Jack! You know we only keep you around for your good looks and how amusing you are at parties."

"You see?" Jack heaved a put-upon sigh. "I don't get no respect. That respect they show you? That's genuine."

The Doctor flushed self-consciously, and the mood turned sober. He cleared his throat. "So... everything going all right?"

Jack nodded solemnly, thinking over the past few months. "We lost some good people," he said huskily. He swallowed to clear his throat. "But we're still here, fighting the good fight. Like you taught me."

"Ah, good. Good good good." The Doctor seemed somewhat at a loss.

"Of course," Zevran said, "now that you are here, we shall expect some massive disaster and world-wide doom."

"Hey," the Doctor said. "I don't _cause_ disasters. I prevent them."

Bannon said, "Doesn't 'prevent' imply that they never get started in the first place?"

"Ah." The Doctor rolled his eyes thoughtfully. "Well, perhaps it's not so much of a 'prevent' as it is a 'thwart.' I thwart disasters. But they don't happen just because I'm there! Just imagine how bad they'd be if I _weren't_ there." He nodded sagaciously.

"A disaster without the Doctor is bad news," Jack said. Then, "Why did you come here, Doc?"

"Well, there I was, on vacation, when I got a call from the Ood." He put his hands in the pockets of his white polyester pants and rocked back and forth on his heels as he spoke. "Funny thing is, when we got back into port and I went to see the Ood, they'd forgotten they'd called. Then I decided to check up on my favorite planet, see what was going on, take a little bus tour of London..."

"The London bus that disappeared?" Ianto said.

"That was you?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, didn't quite work out as much of a vacation, that." He shrugged. "Then I thought, hey, I was in the neighborhood, I should stop by. Oh!" He looked around in shock. "Is this a bad time? Have I landed on some holiday or something?"

"No," said Jack. "It's a fine time! Can we take you out for a banana smoothie?"

===#===

So they went out on the wharf for lunch, talking and laughing, getting a lot of weird stares from the insanity of the stories, but it was all in good fun. For Jack, it was a bittersweet reminder of sitting with Rose and Mickey and the Doctor, so long ago. Before... everything. Everything changed. He saw it too in the Doctor's eyes, when they shared a private look.

But that was the past, and the time now was for the people who were here.

And no disasters fell, and the world turned on. Well-rested, and even a bit cheerier than when he'd arrived, the Doctor left again, with promises to return and catch up soon.

Down in the basement of Torchwood Three, cyber machines hummed quietly to themselves, patiently rebuilding the broken man held in their steel embrace.

===_X_===


	3. III: The Secret

**Dragon Age: Torchwood **

**The Unforgiven**

* * *

CONTENT:  
Rating: Mature  
Flavor: Drama/Angst  
Era: between DA:TW season 2 and 'Children of Earth'  
SPOILERS: DA:TW season 2  
Language: some  
Violence: yes  
Nudity: none  
Sex: referenced  
Other: torture (off-screen), questionable morality

* * *

**III: The Secret**

===#===

Gwen leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms over her head. "Ugh," she said to Ianto. "Are these computers getting slower, or am I just getting faster?"

Ianto pursed his lips. The system had seemed a bit sluggish lately. "Perhaps it's time for an upgrade," he said. "I'll start shopping online."

How long had it been since they've had new computers? Tosh would know. Would have known.

She'd complained once, too, about slow computers. Ianto remembered that incident had nothing to do with needing an upgrade. He shoved that niggling through aside.

He could talk to Jack about the upgrade options. That would give them something to talk about. Jack had gone out with him this week, twice actually, if you counted a weevil hunt. But something was... just off.

It was the sex, Ianto realized, once he'd thought it through. When he and Jack had first hooked up, it was all new and even a little edgy for Ianto. Jack showed him a good many things, and it was all about the fun, the raw pleasure, excitement, and the rush of being just a little bit dirty.

Then Jack had disappeared for two weeks, and when he'd come back, he'd been... different. Ianto could hardly use the word 'needy' to describe the captain, but... the sex had been different. He'd rarely surprised Ianto with a quick shag in odd corners, or used his imperious voice to order his willing subordinate to pleasure him. No, that was the first time Jack had asked him out, on an actual date. They'd had dinner, they'd talked. Jack had taken him into his bed.

And Ianto had thought that was a new phase of their relationship. Something closer, more open, more sharing. Now he wasn't so sure. It wasn't that Jack wasn't an attentive lover. It was just that he seemed more like his old self. A bit more raw. A little less tender. And he seemed distracted. Was he losing interest?

Ianto wanted to talk to him about it, but he was afraid. He'd started- all right, more than started, to be fully honest- to have feelings for Jack. He wasn't quite ready to get dumped, yet. And what the hell, being nothing more than fuck buddies had eventually worked out for Bannon and Zevran. Ianto just had to be patient.

===#===

The Hub was quiet that night. Jack had gone out weevil hunting alone. That niggling thought Ianto'd had earlier had came back, stronger this time. He punched up the power readings on the main terminal. Everything was normal. The readings for the past 24 hours were normal. It was exactly as Ianto had set it up to appear a couple of years ago. When he'd worked in the wee hours, sweating about being caught, about being found out. Covering his tracks, hiding his secret.

The secret in the basement.

He hadn't been down there since that fateful day. He didn't need to go down there; he didn't need to see. He didn't want that painful reminder thrown in his face. He'd put it behind him. Jack, the others, they'd put it behind them, too.

So he really didn't need to be down here. Except if someone were using the basement power clandestinely, wouldn't Jack want to know about it? It was ridiculous. Who could it be? Gwen? Gwen had no use for an underground lair. The elves? They didn't have the technological know-how. Susie was dead, again ('still,' he was pretty sure). John Hart? That was a distinct possibility.

But not probable. They probably just needed newer and faster computers.

He'd just about convinced himself of that when he saw the dim glow beyond the security doors. The cyber machine was on. When Ianto opened the doors, the room lights came up, and he saw the man strapped into the conversion unit. He twisted helplessly in the restraints. "Help me," he whispered.

Ianto's limbs locked, and his breath froze in his body. "Oh... my... God..."

He didn't realize he'd started to back away until he ran into a solid body behind him. A hand clamped over his mouth and an arm wrapped around his chest, pulling him back, out of the room, beyond the doors as they swung shut. Into the darkness. Ianto thrashed and the man gripped him more tightly.

"Ianto!"

It was Jack.

"Ianto, it's me; stop struggling."

He stopped and Jack let him loose. He whirled around. "Jack?" He blinked as the light snapped on. The captain stood by the switch, looking back at him. "Jack, what the hell is going on?"

"Come away from the doors, Ianto. He's very dangerous."

"Who is it?"

Jack grabbed a folding chair that was leaning against the wall. He set it down in the antechamber, away from the security doors. "Sit down," the captain said calmly. "I'll explain everything."

He moved towards Ianto. Ianto edged away. "I don't want to sit down," he said shakily.

"All right, fair enough," Jack said. "Just move away from the door."

Ianto moved away from Jack, making sure to face him as he did so. What the hell was Jack doing down here with that poor bastard? "Who is he?" he asked again.

"I know what it looks like, but he's not human."

"Well, last I heard, we granted basic human rights to all sentient life!"

Jack pressed his hands to his head and took a deep breath. "He's evil, Ianto. Pure evil."

"Evil? I'm supposed to believe he's some sort of demon?"

"He's mad."

"Well then maybe he needs help, Jack. Jesus! What are you doing to him down here?"

"Trying to kill him. Time Lords aren't easy to kill."

"He's a-?" Ianto's jaw dropped and it took him a few moments to regain control of it. "_You're killing the Doctor?_" he said in a rush of disbelief.

"No!"

"He's the last and only Time Lord left in existence, Jack!"

"No; no, he's not." Jack stepped forward, his hands reaching. Ianto skipped back. He bumped the chair, and Jack backed up. "Listen to me carefully, Ianto," he said calmly. It did nothing to stop Ianto's legs from shaking. "You need to understand."

"You explain it to me, Jack."

Jack drew his teeth over his lower lip, as if deciding how much truth to tell him. He looked Ianto in the eye. "It's Harold Saxon."

"What?" Ianto gasped. "The Prime Minister? The one who was murdered? The man who was going to make the world a better place? This country-"

"No!" Jack's face twisted in a snarl. "Don't say that! That's only what he brainwashed you and everyone else into thinking, with the Archangel Network. Remember what I told you? He's a Time Lord called the Master. He enslaved the human race."

"That didn't happen."

"No, it _did_ happen," Jack insisted. "The Doctor set things right, and erased those events from time, but they did happen."

Ianto swallowed. "But if he is a Time Lord, and if he's mad... can't the Doctor help him?"

"No. Look, he's tried, Ianto. And he'll keep trying, because he can't see what needs to be done."

"_This?_"

"Yes!"

Ianto's knees were done holding him up. He sank into the chair. "You have no right..."

"I have every right!" Jack snarled. "Are you even listening to me? He enslaved the entire Earth, he slaughtered millions! He's worse than any Nazi ever could be! The atrocities he's committed!" Jack paced, raging. "He tortured me, Ianto! H-he couldn't kill me, not permanently. It was a game to him, to see how many times he could break me." His voice was shaking now. Tears leaked from his eyes. "I _died_. So many times..." He put his head in his hands. "He hurt me."

Ianto gaped. "And...," he struggled, "you think that makes it okay for you to hurt him back?"

"I want him to _pay_ for his crimes! Every last one of them!"

Ianto bit his lip. His eyes stung. "You say he's evil. He tortured you. I understand that. But you... you're doing the same thing. You're torturing him, Jack! You-you're-! I don't even know you any more!"

Jack straightened his spine, but kept his head bowed. "I'm sorry, Ianto," he said softly. He turned, paced a few steps in front of the doors, fishing around in his pockets. For some crazy reason, Ianto thought he might be looking for his keys, to unshackle the Time Lord. But instead, he brought out a little white pill.

"Ianto," Jack said quietly. "I need you to take this."

Stunned, Ianto stared at the retcon. Slowly, he shook his head. "No," he breathed. "No, Jack; I won't. I won't be complicit in this. I can't."

The captain made a placating gesture. "Please, Ianto. Just take this. I promise, everything will go back to the way it was."

"No."

"Don't you trust me?" Jack's face creased in sorrow.

"No!"

"Hold him."

Ianto started to surge out of his seat, but two pairs of arms seized him; strong, wiry arms. Damned sneaking elves!

"Come on, man," Bannon said. "Don't do it like this."

"Let go of me!"

"You weren't there; you can't understand."

"Just take the pill," Zevran hissed in his other ear.

Ianto only thrashed harder. Bannon wrapped one arm under Ianto's chin, pulling his head back. Jack walked towards them, a look of terrible sadness on his features.

"You're a monster!" Ianto kicked out. Jack avoided it, stepped around and swept Ianto's legs to the side with his own. "I'll never trust you again!"

"I'm so sorry," he whispered as he put his hand on Ianto's throat.

===_X_===


End file.
